// “Why?”

“And what if XYZ happens?”

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When I was a general counsel, that’s all I’d hear when I explained new legal requirements for the IT team to Lois, the department head. She’d immediately ask questions and examine what-if situations after every policy change, needing to talk it all through in person.

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Kay, the HR director, was different. She would nod and agree as I told her of an upcoming change. Later, she’d email me insightful questions that showed she’d heard every detail. Kay just needed time to process verbal information and preferred written explanations.

It was my first GC role, and I was learning how to handle companywide communications and diverse personalities. Here’s what I discovered:  

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Everyone Has A Preferred Communication Style

I quickly found that just as there are individual learning styles (e.g., visual, auditory, read/write, and kinesthetic), each person has a preferred way of receiving information. My job was to communicate with each in the most effective style.

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This requires flexibility, first in recognizing the diverse preferences of those I worked with and then adjusting my communication approaches accordingly. As a GC, you may hear from the CEO, COO, HR director, IT leader, worried employees, frustrated managers, board members, and department heads across the company — all in a single day. 

Each one must understand your legal guidance and follow your advice. That result is so critical that we can’t let our egos get in the way of our effectiveness. We may wish for everyone to form an orderly queue and ask nicely for our time and advice. But executives often call for legal counsel during a crisis. Cooler heads don’t always prevail at these times. And unfortunately, it can reflect poorly on you when legal issues compound and escalate.  

In-house lawyers and GCs need highly versatile communication skills to explain critical information clearly and efficiently to stakeholders at every level. These skills take time to develop and practice to hone. But the effort is well worth ensuring your advice is understood in various interactions.

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Flexibility Means Many Things

You may discover preferences such as emails versus phone calls, early morning chats versus late evening conversations, and in-person meetings versus conference calls. 

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Then, there are situational preferences. C-suite executives may prefer concise updates on only the most pressing legal issues. Employees may need to know about only the workplace changes that affect them directly. At the same time, managers may want a broader perspective on the organization’s legal issues. 

Ask them directly or observe their behavior and communication patterns to determine each person’s preferences. If an executive typically responds promptly to emails but rarely takes your calls, you can assume they prefer email communication. 

Another approach is to provide the same information in multiple forms to ensure you reach each person in the ways they prefer. However, this can quickly become time-consuming, and the repetition can cause people to start tuning out altogether.

By tailoring your communications, you help ensure stakeholders receive valuable legal guidance without feeling micromanaged, overwhelmed, or lost at sea. The awareness and accommodation of individual preferences can make a significant difference in building strong, trusting relationships. 

Embrace flexible communications as a core skill to become a more effective GC and forge a successful career path in today’s competitive legal field, where remote working, flexible work hours, and online collaboration require significantly enhanced skills.

How do you deliver legal updates in your organization?

What are some of the communications challenges involved?

Do you have any tips for improving one-on-one and companywide communications?

Olga V. Mack is the VP at LexisNexis and CEO of Parley Pro, a next-generation contract management company that has pioneered online negotiation technology. Olga embraces legal innovation and had dedicated her career to improving and shaping the future of law. She is convinced that the legal profession will emerge even stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive than before by embracing technology. Olga is also an award-winning general counsel, operations professional, startup advisor, public speaker, adjunct professor, and entrepreneur. She founded the Women Serve on Boards movement that advocates for women to participate on corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies. She authored Get on Board: Earning Your Ticket to a Corporate Board Seat, Fundamentals of Smart Contract Security, and  Blockchain Value: Transforming Business Models, Society, and Communities. She is working on Visual IQ for Lawyers, her next book (ABA 2023). You can follow Olga on Twitter @olgavmack.

Topics

General Counsel, In-House Counsel, Olga V. Mack, Technology